


what keeps me sane

by linier (rasyalleva)



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Canon Universe, Friendship, Gen, Kinda fluff, King Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-08
Updated: 2019-08-08
Packaged: 2020-08-12 00:14:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20162500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rasyalleva/pseuds/linier
Summary: Every once in a while, Arthur needs to smile, and he knows how to cause that.





	what keeps me sane

**Author's Note:**

> Merlin (TV) (c) BBC. I gain no profit from this fanfiction.  
Hi there. Apparently, English isn't my mother language and I don't mind improving, so please kindly tell me if I make mistakes. Thank you!

The deer’s standing there, few meters ahead of him, bends down the front of its body, eating a grass on the ground. The wind’s blowing fine, so far so good. Arthur starts to aim at the deer closely, listening to his own breath as he waiting for the nature to nodding as if they’re the people in charge who’ll give him a permission to shoot the deer. His instinct tells that it’s time, and he knows exactly what to do next. Only a moment needed, or two, or maybe three—

Merlin slaps his shoulder.

“What are you waiting for, you imbecile, we don’t have a whole day here!”

Arthur didn’t prepare for the slap (nor does he ever prepared himself for that, ever), he drops the arrow he’s been holding. The bow shoots itself, but misses—of course. The deer looks up in reflect, and without waiting a moment, starts running and disappears between the trees and bushes. Arthur losses his target in a blink of an eye, he’s looking for nothing but only grasses without any herbivore.

For few seconds, no one’s talking between both of them.

“Merlin?”

“Yes.”

He looks at his servant who’s standing beside him with no clue that he’s made a huge mistake. He points at the grasses, the place where the deer was standing. “Eat.”

Merlin blinks. “What?”

“Eat those grasses.”

“Sorry?”

“_Sorry?” _Arthur asks, with exactly the same tone as Merlin’s. They both didn’t really mean to apologise, it likely means, “Sorry, I think I mistook what you’ve just said,” and when Merlin referred it to Arthur’s saying which ordered him to eat the grasses, Arthur does so to the quick-but-bloody-stupid decision Merlin makes as he picked, “Sorry?” to respond him. He continued. “The deer had already run away before finishing eating the whole grass, Merlin. That’s such a waste!”

Merlin pauses. He laughs. But the laughter only lasted for few seconds, because now his expression changes as if he’s heading with something horrific. “You’re joking.”

Arthur folds his arms. He doesn’t reply.

Merlin gulps and swallows, wipes his mouth with his palm. Okay. Arthur’s being deadly serious now. It’s too actually a risk he should’ve known and accepted, since there’s no one else before him who knowing it wholeheartedly what’ll happen if anyone dares to disturb Arthur when he’s hunting. He makes few steps forward, get close to the grasses, to the point where the deer stood before. He turns around and sees Arthur looking at him. Then Arthur bending down to pick the arrow he dropped.

Merlin looks in horror. “What do you want to do with the arrow?”

“This is an arrow, Merlin. I have no idea. Maybe you can tell me. I don’t know what could possibly be done with an arrow.” He picks a bow which still left and starting to aim. He directs it straight to the talking opponent. “Do you?”

Merlin’s eyes widened. No way. “Arthur, you can’t be serious—Arthur!”

The bow’s been released. Merlin runs away.

What Arthur hearing after noises of broken branches and someone’s steps is nothing but swish of the wind. He sighs, staring at the bow which stuck on a tree. Now that Merlin’s nowhere, finally Arthur can put a big smile on his face.

*

There’s a sound of door opened.

“By the way, Merlin—”

Both Merlin and Gaius turn their head to the door in shock. Arthur’s standing there, still in his hunting uniform which he’s been using since the hunting that lasts few minutes ago. He looks at his servant who’s sat with a face full of dirt, and many plant thorns stuck on his clothes … now Arthur wondering what kind of place is where his servant mired down at. While Gaius was standing in front of the boy, pulls the thorns out one by one carefully.

For a moment Merlin thought that Arthur will make a step into the room, but turns out he keeps stand still in silence. So he asks. “Yes?”

A thorn which Gaius had picked pokes the back of his hand which caused Merlin groaning a little. Merlin turns his face so he and Gaius can share the look of each other. Merlin notices what lies behind Gaius’ eyes to him—he shouldn’t respond to the king by shouted across the room like that. He turns his look away, didn’t want to give him a response. Yes, perhaps that’s impolite, but wait until Gaius knows that he’d ever slapped Arthur’s shoulder. Maybe Gaius will stop pulling out the thorns which spread over his clothes anymore.

But the thing is, the one who shouted is Merlin, _and the one who get shouted by is Arthur_, and as long as the subject didn’t get replaced by someone else, it’ll be just like both of them get switched: there won’t be a problem. Arthur releases his breath, folds his arms. He takes one step and leaning against the door frame to get it shut. “I believe I’ve been forgetting something when you’re accompanying me hunting, Merlin.”

Gaius, while continues pulling the thorns, acts like he doesn’t even there. Merlin doesn’t have a clue where this conversation will lead him to. “Is that so?”

“Yes, I forget to ask something. Tell me, Merlin, what calling you’re using to me when you slapped my shoulder and make me dropped the arrow and missed a deer?”

Both of Gaius’ hands that currently pulling the thorns spread on his sleeve stop right away. Merlin looks up and sees the death glare in the eyes as he swallows in realisation that he’ll get into trouble after this. Then he sees Arthur and aware that the king hardly holding back a smile. Oh—so this is his plan all along. Apparently nearly getting shot by an arrow and mired down to plants full of thorns aren’t enough to satisfying the king to be the price for the slap on his shoulder.

Merlin forces a smile. “I don’t have an answer for that, Sire—”

“You called me ‘an imbecile,’ Merlin.”

What a pompous ass.

Arthur turns around, and then opens the door. “There’s no need to clean yourself, you haven’t cleaning the horses.”

The door’s close. Merlin and Gaius look at each other. Gaius shakes his head in disbelief; he pulls a thorn and using it to piercing the back of his hand.

“Oooow!”

“Watch your mouth, Merlin, when do you start learning from your mistakes?”

“Oow, stop it, Gaius, it huuuurts!”

Behind the closed door, Arthur tries to not burst a laugh.

*

Arthur looks up as he hears the sound of door opened. He stops reading. Merlin enters his chamber. Arthur raises his eyebrows, seeing Merlin with clean face and clean clothes, which is a must, because if Merlin dares to entering his chamber in dirt after cleaning the horses then it would be another problem for both of them. No one speaks—both of them busy staring.

“Yeah?” says Merlin, out of nowhere. “Laughing is what keeping someone sane, they say.”

Arthur laughs.

Just for a moment. Then he silent, looks at Merlin, and continues reading with a smile. He lets his servant seeing that. After all, he’s one who can be the reason for his laugh which keeping him in sanity, indeed.***


End file.
